MARYSVILLE, Wash. — A Marysville woman created a program meant to help her neighbors in the instance of a natural disaster but now, that program is being put to use to check on neighbors during the coronavirus pandemic.
“When we put this together, I was thinking more in terms of earthquakes and flooding,” Dee Good said of the “Map Your Neighborhood” program.
The program is what it sounds like: a map of your neighborhood. In that map, you can find out where your neighbors live and what their needs are.
Team leaders are assigned to their own sections. When disaster hits, which in this case is coronavirus, they go door to door checking on everyone.
“We need to watch over our neighbors and make sure that everybody is up and around,” said Dee.
Team members hand out signs for people to hang in their windows signaling if they’re “OK” or “NEED HELP.”
“It can be for something as simple as groceries or medicine, or to let us know if they’re sick,” said Good.
Half of the people in Dee’s senior community live alone, and many of them are over the age of 80-- all of them are especially at risk for coronavirus.
“With the stay at home order their children aren’t visiting, so we need to look out for them,” she said.
Among those living in the community and taking part in the program is Dr. Mary Schoenfeldt, a nationally known expert on disaster preparedness.
“My hope is that with the pandemic we take a look at what our priorities are and realize that life is uncertain,” she said.